From Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare and its CEO settling false claims allegations to nurses suing Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives over on-call pay, here are the latest healthcare industry lawsuits and settlements making headlines.
1. Prime Healthcare, CEO settle billing fraud allegations
Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare Services and its founder and CEO Prem Reddy, MD, agreed to pay the federal government $1.25 million to settle false claims allegations.
2. Nurses sue CHI over on-call pay: 4 things to know
Seven current and former nurses at CHI Health St. Elizabeth in Lincoln, Neb., filed a federal lawsuit against the hospital's parent company, Englewood, Colo.-based Catholic Health Initiatives.
3. Intermountain: Whistle-blower provisions of False Claims Act are unconstitutional
Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Healthcare argues the False Claims Act's whistle-blower provisions are unconstitutional in a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a case.
4. Physician gets 75 months in prison for role in false billing scheme
A physician who worked at now-defunct New England Pain Management Associates, which operated clinics in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, was sentenced to 75 months in prison on Feb. 6 for conspiring to falsify patient medical records to obtain payments from insurers for medical services that were never provided.
5. California hospital system underpaid by Blue Shield for ER services, jury finds
Fairfield, Calif.-based NorthBay Healthcare may recover $16 million-plus from Blue Shield of California after a federal jury in San Francisco found the health insurer underpaid the hospital system for emergency care.
6. New York hospital retaliated against 2 physicians for reporting dangerous care, lawsuits claim
Two physicians filed lawsuits against Auburn (N.Y.) Community Hospital, alleging the hospital retaliated against them for raising concerns about another physician's dangerous conduct.
7. UPMC to litigate over Highmark consent decree
Pittsburgh-based UPMC will fight a petition filed Feb. 7 by the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office seeking to modify a consent decree between UPMC and Pittsburgh-based Highmark that is set to expire June 30.
8. Florida hospital owes $35K for supplies, lawsuit contends
A lawsuit filed against a Florida hospital claims that the facility's owner has not paid invoices dating to 2017 and owes more than $35,000 for medical supplies.
9. Pennsylvania hospital accused of firing technician in cancer treatment
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia faces allegations that it fired an anesthesiology technician who asked for extended medical leave during breast cancer treatment.
10. AbbVie must hand over Humira documents, judge rules
A federal judge ruled that AbbVie must turn over documents in a lawsuit that accuses the drugmaker of using "unclean hands" to create a thicket of patents to protect its best-selling drug Humira from competition.
11. Judge halts NJ health system's move to expel physicians
A New Jersey judge on Feb. 8 temporarily stopped Bethlehem, Pa.-based St. Luke's University Health Network from pursuing its plans to prevent at least eight physicians from working at its hospital in Phillipsburg, N.J.
12. Optum's trade secrets appeal to be fast-tracked
The United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit agreed to fast-track its deliberation over whether Optum can block its former executive David Smith from using confidential information he allegedly obtained before being hired by the Amazon-Berkshire-JPMorgan venture.
13. Woman awarded $1M in discrimination lawsuit against California hospital
A jury awarded a former employee of Camarillo, Calif.-based St. John's Pleasant Valley Hospital $1.03 million in a discrimination lawsuit.
More articles on legal and regulatory issues:
Georgia hospital enters $5M settlement with feds to resolve false claims case
Ex-pharmacy director pleads guilty to defrauding Nebraska hospital of $4.6M
Specialty pharmacy pays $17M to settle Medicare billing fraud lawsuit